Great Quotes about Money

Who loves reading motivational quotes? Especially when they are printed on a stock photo of a scenic background or a picture of a famous person.

It is said that plagiarism is stealing from one source. Research is stealing from multiple sources. Rather than writing a typical post this week, I stole a bunch of quotes about money from all over the internet. Most of them didn’t even cite who originally said the phrase, but I’m sure the original orators care more about others receiving the message than knowing who said it.

So in no particular order, below are some great quotes about money, loosely organized into categories.

Saving and Investing

A penny saved is a penny earned. –Benjamin Franklin

Dollar-cost average for your entire life and you’ll beat almost everyone who doesn’t.

Start saving for university before your kid is born and start saving for your retirement before you graduate university. You’ll feel silly when you start and feel like a genius when you finish.

The most powerful way to grow your money is learning to live with less, since you have complete control over it.

It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for. –Robert Kiyosaki

Two things you can do to make yourself a better investor: Increase both the amount of time you’re investing for and the humility you put into your ideas.

Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it. –Albert Einstein

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. --Lao Tzu

Recent Performance / Future Expectations

Every five to seven years, people forget that recessions occur every five to seven years.

About once a year, people forget that the stock market declines by about 10% once a year.

During the last 100 years in the USA, there have been more 10% market pullbacks than Christmases. Everyone knows Christmas will come; think of volatility the same way.

Read more history and fewer forecasts.

Judge investors by the quality of their arguments, not the performance of their last trade.

You’re only diversified when some of your investments perform worse than others.

Bias and Overconfidence

You’re twice as biased as you think you are (four times if you disagree with that statement).

Be careful when reading about how stupid investors can be and not realize you’re reading about yourself.

Your circle of competence is probably 90% smaller than you think it is.

Big risks will always be disregarded; small risks always blown out of proportion.

The more you learn about the economy, the more you realize you have no idea what is going on.

You have no obligation to have an opinion about anything. You have a strict obligation to not have an opinion about things you don’t understand.

You shouldn’t feel strongly about any investment you haven’t spent at least a week thinking about.

Respect the role luck has played on some of your role models.

Warren Buffett’s folksy talk misleads people into thinking that what he’s accomplished is easy. It’s not.

Quite day trading and donate your money to charity instead.Same financial result for you and a better outcome for society.

A good rule of thumb for many things in life holds that things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then happen faster than you thought they could. –Larry Summers.

Emotions and Money

Assume the worst, hope for the best, accept reality.

It’s strange that you go to the doctor once a year, but you check your investments once a day.

Check your brokerage account as infrequently as it takes to prevent rash decisions.

Most people need a financial advisor, but everyone needs a financial counselor, or someone to talk them off the ledge before making a dumb decision.

Emotional intelligence is more important than book intelligence.

I will tell you the secret to getting rich on Wall Street. You try to be greedy when others are fearful. And you try to be fearful when others are greedy. --Warren Buffett

Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas. --Paul Samuelson

The four most expensive words in the English language are, ‘This time it’s different.’ --Sir John Templeton

Financial News

Imagine how much stuff you’d have to make up if you were forced to talk 24/7. Remember this when watching financial news on TV.

Investors were probably better informed 20 years ago when there was 90% less financial news.

Read more books and fewer articles.

Read last year’s market predictions and you’ll never again take this year’s predictions seriously.

Predictions, opinions, and forecasts should be discounted by the number of times the person making them is on TV each week.

Spending Money

Don’t attempt to keep up with the Joneses without realizing the Joneses aren’t any happier than you are.

Most people’s biggest expense is interest, which comes from living beyond their means and buying things they think will impress others, which comes from insecurity. Avoid these two and you’ll grow richer than most of your peers.

Too many people spend money they earned…to buy things they don't want...to impress people that they don't like. --Will Rogers

There is a strong negative correlation between flaunting money and being rich.

Just as you should dress appropriately for your age, you should spend appropriately for your income, and not a penny more.

Singer Rihanna nearly went broke and fired her financial advisor, who described her situation well: “Was it really necessary to tell her that if you spend money on things, you will end up with the things and not the money?”

Never spend your money before you have it. --Thomas Jefferson

Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value. --Joe Biden

Politics and Money

Your devotion to a political party or economic philosophy is directly proportional to your tendency to think irrationally about how politics affects your investments.

Don’t let politics sway your investment decisions. Case in point: The United States Congress has been a dysfunctional swamp of disappointment since 1789 and American stocks have done well ever since.

Financial Planning

You wouldn’t get in a car and drive around aimlessly, hoping to eventually arrive at a pleasant destination. So why would you even consider doing this for your business? –Koos Kruger

Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. –John L. Beckley

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. –Pablo Picasso

Always prepare yourself for a financial emergency, even when you don’t see a possibility of a rainy day in your future. –Edmond Mbiaka

A goal without a plan is just a wish. –Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Miscellaneous

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. --Thomas Jefferson

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. --Thomas Edison

You can probably afford not to be a great investor. You probably can’t afford to be a bad one.

There are over 60,000 personal finance books on Amazon.com. In aggregate, they contain about 3 billion words. This seems absurd, because 99% of personal finance can be summarized in nine words: Work a lot, spend a little, invest the difference. Master that and the other 2.999 billion words are filler.

Disclosures:

Diversification and asset allocation strategies do not assure profit or protect against loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk. Depending on the types of investments, there may be varying degrees of risk. Investors should be prepared to bear loss, including total loss of principal.